VA - VERVE, The Sound of America, The Singles Collection [2013] (5x CDs)

SUNDAY JAZZ

VERVE

VA - VERVE, The Sound of America, The Singles Collection [2013] (5x CDs)

Conventional wisdom has it that jazz is a style of music best suited for long-playing formats, and that it was never meant for the singles charts. Of course, that isn't really the case -- plenty of great jazz records were recorded long before the invention of the LP (even if 78s made it difficult to document long improvisational jams), and jazz was a genuinely popular form before rock and other styles usurped it on the charts in the '60s and '70s. Even into the 1970s, stations geared for listeners with little interest in rock would regularly blend accessible jazz into the mix, before fusion alienated one part of jazz's mainstream audience in order to engage another. Jazz's relationship with the mainstream is the unspoken theme of The Sound of America, The Singles Collection, a five-disc box set that collects 100 tracks Verve Records issued as singles between 1947 and 1972 (one track from Diana Krall brings the set into the 21st century) as label head Norman Granz aimed for all kinds of listeners and not simply jazz snobs. While several of the early tracks on this set fall into the category of dance tunes and novelty items (the latter best represented by Slim Gaillard's "Opera in Vout"), there's plenty of "real" jazz on this set, with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Dizzy Gillespie all represented on disc one. As the set goes on, vocalists and stylish interpretations of old standards become a dominant force, performances that were expressive but still had one foot in the hit parade, and Ella Fitzgerald's many sides here demonstrate how formally innovative a performer could be and still please a crowd (her scatting on 1961's "How High the Moon" is a dazzling show of imagination and technique). By the mid-'60s, things start to slip a bit, as Fitzgerald gets talked into recording something called "The Ringo Beat" and show tunes and covers of pop hits replace standards and originals, but there's still plenty that allows soloists to shine (particularly Jimmy Smith's mighty organ workouts and Willie Bobo's sinewy Latin grooves), and "The Girl from Ipanema" by Stan Getz, João Gilberto, and Astrud Gilberto is a sterling example of jazz that could fit gracefully in with pop formats. Much of what's on The Sound of America: The Singles Collection is bold and brassy, but if most of this ignores the more experimental waters of bebop and beyond, nearly everything captures gifted and soulful artists working at the top of their craft, and it's hard to imagine how music as strong and approachable as this fell out of favor and was shunted into "specialty" programming. This is a fine set for jazz devotees, and a trimmed-down edition could be a convincer for folks who believe jazz is too esoteric for them; either way, it's a fascinating and entertaining look at an often-forgotten aspect of a great record label. (AllMusic review by Mark Deming)

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Track lists

CD1

01 Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars - Perdido, Pt 1 & Pt 2 6:00

02 Charlie Parker, Flip Phillips, Machito and His Orchestra - No Noise, Pt 1 & Pt 2 5:55

03 Slim Gaillard - Opera in Vout, Pt1 & Pt2 4:51

04 Charlie Parker - Just Friends 3:32

05 Lester Young - I Cover the Waterfront 3:51

06 Charlie Parker - Bloomdido 3:26

07 Coleman Hawkins - There’s a Small Hotel 3:04

08 Oscar Peterson - Debut 2:51

09 Johnny Hodges - Castle Rock 2:52

10 Illinois Jacquet - Port of Rico 2:44

11 Billie Holiday - You Go to My Head 2:57

12 Roy Eldridge - Dale’s Wail 3:39

13 Billie Holiday - Tenderly 3:23

14 Ben Webster - Tenderly 3:05

15 Count Basie with Joe Williams - Alright, Okay, You Win 3:05

16 Count Basie & His Orchestra - April in Paris 3:51

17 Dizzy Gillespie - I Can’t Get Started 2:55

18 Anita O’Day - The Rock & Roll Waltz 2:47

19 Ella Fitzgerald - Too Young for the Blues 3:16

20 Gene Krupa with Anita O’Day & Roy Eldridge - Boogie Blues 3:51

CD2

01 Fred Astaire - Hello Baby 2:52

02 Ella Fitzgerald - (The End of a) Beautiful Friendship 2:39

03 Ella Fitzgerald - Stay There 2:35

04 Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Stars Fell on Alabama 3:34

05 Bing Crosby - Mountain Greenery 3:39

06 Ella Fitzgerald - Manhattan 2:50

07 Woody Herman - I Wonder 2:28

08 Oscar Peterson - I’ve Never Left Your Arms 2:51

09 Ella Fitzgerald - It’s All Right With Me 3:09

10 Johnny Hodges - I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter 3:30

11 Buddy Bregman - Derek’s Blues 2:51

12 Teddy Wilson - Sayonara 2:55

13 Oscar Peterson - The Golden Striker 5:14

14 Gene Krupa - Sing, Sing, Sing 4:50

15 Ella Fitzgerald with Orchestra Conducted by Frank DeVol - Stairway to the Stars 2:54

16 Dizzy Gillespie - Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac, Pt1 & Pt2 7:06

17 Mel Tormé - Frenesi 2:35

18 Louie Bellson - Lulu’s Back in Town 2:32

19 Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit 2:59

20 Louis Armstrong with Orchestra Conducted by Russell Garcia - Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen 4:51

CD3

01 Oscar Peterson - On the Street Where You Live 5:34

02 Ella Fitzgerald - Mack the Knife 4:44

03 Terry Gibbs - Let’s Do It 3:04

04 Gerry Mulligan and the Concert Jazz Band - I’m Gonna Go Fishin’, Pt1 & Pt2 5:54

05 Ella Fitzgerald - How High the Moon 7:09

06 Roy Eldridge Quartet - Bossa Nova 2:45

07 Ella Fitzgerald - Mr. Paganini 4:05

08 Ella Fitzgerald - Cry Me a River 4:16

09 Jimmy Smith - Walk on the Wild Side 5:57

10 Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd - Desafinado 2:03

11 Jimmy Smith - Ol’ Man River 3:58

12 Blossom Dearie - Teach Me Tonight 2:41

13 Terry Gibbs - The Hippie Twist 2:33

14 Ella Fitzgerald with Orchestra Conducted by Marty Paich - Desafinado 2:12

15 Stan Getz - Manhã de Carnaval (Carnival Morning) 5:49

16 Jimmy Smith - Hobo Flats 4:46

17 Ella Fitzgerald - Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home 3:26

18 Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfá - Sambalero 2:11

19 Bill Evans - On Broadway 2:33

20 Kai Winding - More (Theme from Mondo Cane) 2:01

CD4

01 Bill Evans - Theme from the V.I.P.’s 2:25

02 Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Smith - What’d I Say? 2:54

03 Jimmy Smith - Theme from Any Number Can Win 2:14

04 Oscar Peterson - Hymn to Freedom 5:36

05 Antônio Carlos Jobim - Corcovado 2:27

06 Ella Fitzgerald & Count Basie - Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall 3:20

07 Wynton Kelly - If That’s the Way You Want It 2:39

08 Kai Winding - Mondo Cane #2 1:55

09 Jimmy Smith - Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Pt 1&2 9:28

10 Stan Getz - Blowin’ in the Wind 2:33

11 Getz, Gilberto, vocal by Astrud Gilberto - The Girl from Ipanema 2:49

12 Ella Fitzgerald - Hello, Dolly! 2:54

13 Louis Armstrong - Makin’ Whoopee 3:57

14 Jimmy Smith - The Cat 3:26

15 Lalo Schifrin - Bachianas Brasileiras, No 5 3:54

16 Ella Fitzgerald - Ringo Beat 1:49

17 Donald Byrd - You’ve Been Talkin’ ’bout My Baby 2:42

18 Cal Tjader - Soul Sauce 2:27

19 Jimmy Smith - Goldfinger 2:48

20 Astrud Gilberto - Agua de Beber 2:17

CD5

01 Jimmy Smith with Kenny Burrell & Grady Tate - Organ Grinder Swing 2:14

02 Kenny Burrell - Loie 3:19

03 Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington - Imagine My Frustration 4:50

04 Willie Bobo - Spanish Grease 2:49

05 Wes Montgomery - Goin’ Out of My Head 2:14

06 Jimmy Smith - Got My Mojo Workin’, Pt1 & Pt2 8:02

07 Bill Evans Trio - Pavane 3:59

08 Jimmy Smith - Hoochie Coochie Man, Pt1 & Pt2 5:59

09 Wes Montgomery - Bumpin’ on Sunset 4:52

10 Willie Bobo - Sunshine Superman 2:57

11 Wes Montgomery - California Dreaming 3:08

12 Astrud Gilberto - Dindi 2:43

13 Willie Bobo - Evil Ways 2:41

14 Chico O’Farrill - Manteca 2:47

15 Jimmy Smith - Chain of Fools 5:02

16 Don Sebesky - The Word 3:48

17 Kenny Burrell - The Preacher 2:59

18 Lalo Schifrin - Agnus Dei 4:20

19 Stan Getz - Communications ’72 2:32

20 Diana Krall - The Look of Love 4:41

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